Hindustan Zinc's All-Women Rescue Team Wins 2nd Spotat Intl Mines Rescue Competition

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 24 September 2024

In a historic achievement for India and the global mining industry, Hindustan Zinc Limited (NSE: At HINDZINC, drew huge attention when the first-ever all-women mine rescue team clinched the second position at the XIII International Mines Rescue Competition in the women’s task force category. They were conducted in Colombia by the National Mining Agency of Colombia in collaboration with the IMRB. By participating in this competition, the HZL team crossed over 20 highly trained teams from 8 different countries to emerge as the first all-women group to compete in this mining championship enhancing the country’s reputation in the mining industry.

The competition which was highly challenging skill and endurance based, entailed a series of rescue related drills that best emulated the real life events in a mine. Rescue performance was assessed in breathing and no-breathing situations, first aid, equipment inspection and general rescue operating ability. In this highly competitive event, the All Women Vehicle of Hindustan Zinc performed outstanding and emerged second in this event in the above said categories.

Arun Misra, CEO of Hindustan Zinc Limited, expressed his pride in the team’s achievement: “It takes my breath away to know that our own women in mining have done something so revolutionary. Playing for similar salaries on level playing field against some of the best teams across the globe, they have proven that women are equally capable as the male counter parts in this physically arduous profession. They have proved their mettle and spirit has uniqueness to make India stand proud on international forum.

This accomplishment heralds progress for the Hindustan Zinc but also mining segment in India that has commonly been regarded as a domain for male employees. Team member Nehal Solanki shared her excitement: This is a dream come true to be a part of this history to be the first all-women team from India and to rank second in this world. They are grateful for the support extended by their technical and financial partner Hindustan Zinc in this journey. Another fellow team member Sandhya Singh also echoed the feeling of the above statement by saying, “It was a great feeling to see the Indian flag being unfurled in Colombia. This competition made the best in us and receiving this recognition makes all the effort that was put in worth it.”

International Mines Rescue Competition is organized every year in different countries and involved teams of the best mine rescue. The goal of the competition is to evaluate the knowledge and cooperation of groups in extreme conditions and emphasizing on the importance of mine rescue services.

It is through such gestures that Hindustan Zinc has been able to make waves on the international market without compromising on Diversity and Inclusion policies. Being one of India’s key mining and metals companies, the organization has been advancing efforts to challenge gender inequality for quite some time now. Through processes such as digitalization and automations, Hindustan Zinc has challenges the stereotype that mining entails only physical strength, meaning that there are more openings accruing to women in the pattern.

“Speaking of women, it’s been our core strategy to help women transform personally as well as professionally,” said Misra. Hindustan Zinc's commitment to supporting women at every stage of life-both personally and professionally-has led to career-enhancing opportunities, including night shifts, rich job content, and progressive workplace policies like spouse hiring, year-long sabbaticals for childcare, and leave policies prioritizing mental and physical health. Women occupy 21, 7 % of executive positions in the company, and 54 % of the female employees of the company are engineers. The company has designed a headline strategic goal that aims at 30% diversity of the executives and managers in the coming years.

Apart from the achievement in the diversity, Hindustan Zinc has delivered a lot in the area of sustainability. The Vedanta Zinc International operates as the Vedanta Group’s business arm and ranks as the second largest integrated zinc manufacturer in the world and the third largest silver producer. Cumulatively it has 75% market share of the bullion market in India as well as exporting zinc to more than forty countries. It important to note that the present day’s Hindustan Zinc has been bestowed with the title of the world’s most sustainable company in the metals & mining sector by the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 which denotes its commitment towards Environment, Social and Governance or ESG sustainability.

There is also another big thing that Hindustan Zinc is also the player in the energy transition globally. The company has come up with the EcoZen, Asia’s first low-carbon ‘green’ zinc brand which has carbon footprint of 25% less than the industry average internationally. Furthermore, the Company records the Water-Positive Credentials as 2.41 times and confirmed carbon neutral status with the goal of Net Zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.

The success of Hindustan Zinc's all-women mine rescue team gave a powerful statement about the potential of women in mining. It is also evidence of the company's attempts to increase the number of people of color employed in the organization. Enacting progressive policies and thus pursuing strategies for sustainability, Hindustan Zinc has raised the bar on operations in the world mining industry.